Quote:
Originally Posted by bcrdukes
2. Climate / lifestyle
The real draw to me is the climate and lifestyle; I do not enjoy living in a city with only hot and cold (Summer and Winter) both of which are just awful (I currently live in Toronto - centre of the universe.) I've visited Singapore several times, and each subsequent visit drawing me back more and more. I know that life as a tourist is much different than that of a resident, so I have to be realistic, and I'm hoping if any telco friends out there could help me out with some insight. I was envious of folks who would lunch outside Downtown Singapore, and socialize with their colleagues after work; no such thing where I am because everyone is busy commuting an hour and a half back home to tend to their families.
3. Salary / Cost of Living
Browsing through the forum, it appears there is a big salary gap in the industry between Singapore and Canada, but keeping in mind, a large chunk of our salaries in Canada are highly taxed due to our social system. I'm unsure of the living expenses in Singapore, but I expect they are much more than that of Vancouver and Toronto. I am hoping to set some real expectations for myself and not hype things up for myself.
I'm a long ways from retirement, so I'm hoping that the decision to move to Singapore will be a good one, regardless of whether I go bust or not. It's the experience that I'm after. Working and living in Canada can only get so exciting, so I'm looking for a new start elsewhere.
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If Toronto is just summer and winter, then Singapore is just summer and rain. Also, the humidity here kills.
The ease of commute here is true though, because Singapore is so tiny.
As for salary, could you share more on the average compensation packages in CA? What's your impression of the pay packages in SG? Our income tax rates are relatively low here, so if you don't aspire to own a car or buy multiple properties, you will not incur the other hefty indirect taxes/duties.
I'm not from telco, but I heard that the telco industry is under pressure given that more licenses have been awarded, which I think is the government's way of pushing the industry to innovate and compete.
Starhub has retrenched some employees just slightly more than a year ago:
s://.todayonline.com/singapore/starhub-retrench-300-full-time-employees-restructure-company
Do you have kids?